War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Department of War and the Department of Justice have created a joint task force to identify and prosecute government officials accused of leaking sensitive national defense information.
<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/2076673841913344136">In a video posted on X</a>, Hegseth said unauthorized disclosures can endanger American troops, compromise military operations, and cause &#8220;exceptionally grave damage&#8221; to national security.
&#8220;The unauthorized disclosure of sensitive War Department information has the very real potential to cause exceptionally grave damage to our national security and the operational integrity of our armed forces,&#8221; Hegseth said. &#8220;To leak sensitive national defense information and secrets betrays the men and women who wear our nation&#8217;s uniform.&#8221;
Hegseth said that when a leak occurs, it is critical for the department to quickly provide the Department of Justice, FBI, and other federal law enforcement agencies with actionable information.
According to Hegseth, the new directive expands the authority of the War Department&#8217;s Office of General Counsel to obtain records and other information related to leak investigations and requires department personnel to respond within 48 hours. 
&#8220;The security of our nation cannot be a bargaining chip for those who seek momentary headlines,&#8221; Hegseth said. &#8220;Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust. And those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.&#8221;
The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues pursuing multiple investigations into leaks involving sensitive national security information. 
The announcement follows several recent investigations in which Trump administration officials said unauthorized disclosures threatened national security.
One recent investigation centered on media reports that two U.S. service members had gone down inside Iran during U.S. military operations earlier this year. One airman had been rescued while search efforts continued for a second.
President Donald Trump later said those reports placed the rescue operation &#8220;at great risk&#8221; because they alerted Iran that an American service member remained inside the country.
&#8220;All of a sudden, the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump also said the disclosure made the rescue <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/furious-trump-threatens-jail-for-reporters-targets-sick-leaker-who-risked-rescue">mission more difficult</a> for American personnel. According to Trump, the second service member was eventually rescued during an operation involving 155 U.S. aircraft. Trump said his administration was attempting to identify the source of the leak.
Another investigation involves a New York Times report detailing why Trump departed Turkey aboard the older Air Force One instead of the newly accepted Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar.
According to<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-nyt-story-that-just-triggered-doj-subpoenas"> The Daily Wire</a>, citing federal law enforcement sources, a senior FBI official urged the New York Times not to publish the story, warning that it contained highly sensitive national security information. The news outlet ultimately published the report, citing unnamed sources discussing the aircraft&#8217;s security protocols.
The Justice Department later issued grand jury subpoenas to four New York Times reporters connected to the story. A DOJ spokesman told The Daily Wire, &#8220;Reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.&#8221;

Secretary Hegseth And Chairman Caine Hold Pentagon Press Briefing On Iran Strikes

Pete Hegseth Reveals What’s Coming For Government Leakers

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New York Times

Pete Hegseth

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WASHINGTON — Fourteen women who say they were harmed by abortion drugs are urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to settle a federal lawsuit over mail-order abortion drugs involving a woman who says she was coerced into aborting her unborn baby by her boyfriend, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire.
The letter comes ahead of Blanche&#8217;s scheduled confirmation hearings, currently set for July 15 and July 16, indicating that Blanche may face questions from Republican senators on the Justice Department&#8217;s attitude toward mail-order abortion drugs. Under President Joe Biden, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made it much easier for women to obtain abortion drugs through the mail without safety precautions.
Pro-abortion advocates have argued that the coronavirus pandemic made it necessary for women to be able to abort their babies at home using mail-order abortion drugs. Opponents of the drugs argue that abortions-by-mail have been found to harm many women and open the door to <a href="https://sbaprolife.org/latest-news/abortion-drugs-fuel-abuse-the-women-poisoned-against-their-will">documented cases of coercion and violence</a>.
&#8220;The Department of Justice must act now to protect women by listening to and standing with Rosalie Markezich, rather than fighting against her in litigation,&#8221; reads a letter sent to Blanche on July 8, signed by Tramelle Jones, Sara Huff, Elizabeth Henschel, Dora Rhode Esparza, Jannette Houston, Grace Cardoso, Abby Johnson, Kelly Lester, Erin Woods, Alani Harmon, Haile McAnally, Shanyce Thomas, McKenzie Kaupa-Thiesse, and Jessica Williams.
The women describe how Markezich, as a young woman in Louisiana, was delighted to discover she was pregnant. Her boyfriend did not feel the same way.
&#8220;She wanted her baby. She worked with children, loved them, and did not reject the thought of motherhood,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;Yet according to her account, her then-boyfriend changed his mind, used her information to obtain abortion drugs by mail from a California abortionist, and pressured her to take them even though she did not want to end her pregnancy.&#8221;
&#8220;We grieve with Rosalie because many of us recognize parts of our own stories in hers: the pressure, the confusion, the fear, the absence of real medical care, and the feeling that the system was designed to move drugs faster than it was designed to protect women. No woman should be forced, pressured, deceived, or abandoned into taking drugs that end her child’s life and place her own health at risk.&#8221;
The women blame the FDA&#8217;s abortion drug policy for putting Markezich in this situation, warning Blanche that the policy is &#8220;the same policy the Department is defending in court&#8221; through Louisiana v. FDA. They urge the acting attorney general to side with Markezich and settle her legal case immediately so that &#8220;abortion drugs are no longer sent through the mail in ways that put women at risk.&#8221;
&#8220;The federal government should not defend policies that make it easier for men, abusers, traffickers, or anyone else to obtain abortion drugs in a woman’s name and pressure her to take them in isolation,&#8221; they write.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, told The Daily Wire on Wednesday that the current crisis of mail-order abortion drugs is a &#8220;direct result of Biden federal policy.&#8221; Her organization has documented a number of cases of abortion drug coercion and violence across the nation, including the alarming story of a U.S. Army captain sentenced to 12 years in prison who poisoned a female junior soldier with mifepristone and killed their baby.
&#8220;Again,&#8221; she said, &#8220;we implore Acting AG Blanche as the Senate weighs his nomination: please, listen to the survivors and settle the case without further delay.”
A Fifth Circuit panel had previously found that Markezich&#8217;s case was &#8220;strongly likely&#8221; to succeed based on their claim that the FDA mail-order abortion rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act. But opponents of the abortion drugs argue that the litigation will take a long time to resolve while women and babies are continuing to be harmed.
&#8220;Settling this case would send a clear message that women’s safety matters, that coercion is real, that state laws protecting women and unborn children deserve respect, and that the Department of Justice will not ignore the real-world consequences of weakened abortion-drug safeguards,&#8221; write the fourteen women harmed by abortion drugs.
&#8220;We do not all share the same story, the same zip code, or the same season of life,&#8221; they added. &#8220;But we are united in asking the Department of Justice to recognize the harm women have suffered and to act before more women are placed in similar danger. For Rosalie, and for women and girls across the country who may never have the chance to tell their stories publicly, we ask you to act with urgency: side with Rosalie, settle the case, and help restore safeguards that can prevent further harm.&#8221;
Signer Haile McAnally took abortion drugs that were given to her at an abortion center, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America shared, but when she got home, she began hemorrhaging in her bathtub. A friend discovered her and rushed her to the emergency room where she received a blood transfusion and doctors were able to save her life.
&#8220;I am supporting Rosalie because, like so many women, I fell prey to the propaganda surrounding the abortion pill — and it nearly took my life,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. &#8220;I received mine in person at a clinic and still suffered serious medical complications; now these drugs are being shipped across the country with little to no oversight. For the health and safety of women, we have to do better — that starts with immediately stopping the mail shipment of these pills.&#8221;
Another signer, Jessica Williams, shared that she was pressured to abort her child by her estranged husband and ordered the drugs online through chat, with no screening. The abortion drugs shipped across state lines to a hotel where she picked them up, took them, and then immediately regretted her choice and called a pregnancy center where she obtained abortion pill reversal.
She named her baby daughter, who survived and is thriving, Kaylee Grace, partially after the pregnancy center that helped her.
&#8220;Every woman deserves to make decisions free from coercion or pressure and with appropriate medical support, screenings &amp; safeguards,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The abortion pill carries an FDA black box warning label, as it is not an over-the-counter drug and comes with real risks to the lives of both mother and baby.  I am a nurse and a woman who has experienced coercion from a partner to take the pill, but my child was saved by abortion pill reversal. Some women and children are not that fortunate because of mail-order drugs.&#8221;

Acting AG Todd Blanche Testifies In Senate Hearing On Tuesday Morning

EXCLUSIVE: Women Harmed By Abortion Drugs Send A Message To Todd Blanche

Abortion

Todd Blanche

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who helped oversee the intelligence community&#8217;s investigation into alleged ties between Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia, sued the Justice Department on Wednesday before prosecutors have even charged him with a crime.
Brennan filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking an order requiring the Trump administration to preserve records related to two ongoing Justice Department investigations examining his conduct.
The move comes as federal investigators continue probing Brennan&#8217;s role in the intelligence community&#8217;s 2017 assessment concluding that Russia sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, as well as whether Brennan gave misleading testimony to Congress about that assessment during testimony in 2023.
No criminal charges have been filed against Brennan. Nevertheless, Brennan&#8217;s legal team argues that any future prosecution would amount to political retaliation by the Trump administration and says preserving government records now is necessary to support what they describe as an eventual defense against &#8220;vindictive and selective prosecution.&#8221;
&#8220;This Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President&#8217;s perceived adversaries,&#8221; Brennan&#8217;s attorneys wrote in the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102.1.0.pdf">46-page complaint.</a> The filing names President Donald Trump, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and several Justice Department officials involved in the investigations. 
According to Brennan&#8217;s attorneys, they fear government officials may fail to preserve internal communications that could be relevant if prosecutors ultimately seek an indictment. The Justice Department declined to confirm whether Brennan is under criminal investigation.
&#8220;While we cannot comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of an investigation, it is certainly rich that John Brennan is accusing anyone of a &#8216;retribution campaign,'&#8221; a DOJ spokesman said to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-cia-chief-john-brennan-sues-trump-administration-demands-court-preserve-investigation-records">Fox News Digital</a>. The investigations into Brennan have steadily expanded over the past year.
One inquiry centers on whether Brennan misled Congress regarding the intelligence community&#8217;s conclusions about Russian interference in the 2016 election. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan previously referred Brennan to the Justice Department for possible prosecution after questioning his congressional testimony.
Investigators have also reportedly interviewed current and former intelligence officials involved in drafting the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that concluded Moscow sought to boost Trump&#8217;s candidacy.
That review has focused in part on whether the controversial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sues-christopher-steele-over-shocking-and-scandalous-claims-made-in-discredited-dossier?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Sues+Christopher+Steele+Over+%E2%80%98Shocking+And+Scandalous%E2%80%99+Claims+Made+In+Discredited+Dossier">Steele dossier</a> — a collection of unverified allegations about Trump funded by his political opponents — inappropriately influenced the intelligence assessment&#8217;s conclusions. Brennan has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has maintained that the intelligence community&#8217;s assessment accurately reflected Russia&#8217;s efforts to interfere in the election.
A separate Justice Department investigation reportedly examines what prosecutors have described as a broader conspiracy involving Obama-era and Biden-era officials, looking into whether multiple investigations targeting Trump—including the Russia probe and later criminal investigations—were part of a coordinated effort to undermine him politically.
Brennan&#8217;s attorneys argue that those investigations themselves demonstrate political bias. The complaint points to personnel changes inside the Justice Department, including the replacement of a career national security prosecutor with Joseph diGenova, a former Trump attorney who has publicly called Brennan &#8220;evil&#8221; and a &#8220;traitor.&#8221;
The filing also alleges prosecutors attempted to move aspects of the investigation between different U.S. Attorney&#8217;s offices and sought venues that Brennan&#8217;s lawyers believe would be more favorable to the government&#8217;s case.
Rather than waiting to challenge an indictment, Brennan is asking the court to preserve emails, memoranda, witness statements, status reports, and other internal communications that could later become evidence supporting claims that prosecutors acted with improper political motives.
The filing comes as the Trump administration continues investigating several high-profile officials connected to previous investigations into Trump, including former intelligence and FBI personnel involved in the Russia inquiry. 
Whether Brennan is ultimately charged remains unknown. His lawsuit seeks to preserve records he argues could become relevant if prosecutors later bring charges.

CIA Director John Brennan Testifies To Senate Committee Hearing On National Security

Former Spy Chief Behind Russia Collusion Probe Takes Unusual Legal Step

Courts

Donald Trump

John Brennan

Lawsuit

Russia Collusion Hoax

A New York woman was arrested and charged with attempting to send money to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/upstate-new-york-woman-arrested-charged-attempting-provide-material-support-palestine">announced</a> Tuesday.
Catherine Beth Washburn, 37, of Irondequoit, New York, was charged by criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support and resources, namely currency, to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also known as Al-Quds Brigades. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the report, Washburn is a leader of the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, or DAMPL, which the Justice Department described as an extremist organization formed after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Prosecutors said DAMPL rejects peaceful protest and engages in “direct action,” including sabotage and property destruction, in support of the Palestinian cause and against entities it associates with Israel.
“As alleged, <a href="https://x.com/DOJNatSec/status/2072070845640433955">Washburn repeatedly voiced support for violence against Israeli civilians</a> and attempted to provide material support to the Palestine Islamic Jihad by sending cryptocurrency to an individual who claimed to participate in its attacks,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. “Those who aid foreign terrorist groups will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Federal investigators said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force executed search warrants in February and March 2026 and recovered electronic messages between Washburn and an individual who identified as a Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighter in Gaza. The individual allegedly claimed to have taken part in attacks against Israel.
In one message cited by prosecutors, Washburn allegedly wrote, “If I lived in Gaza, I would fight alongside the resistance.” She also allegedly wrote, “I wish every day were October 7th,” and said she hated Jews “very much” and wished Israel “would disappear.”
Prosecutors said Washburn and the individual discussed alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad attacks on Israel, weapons, and ammunition. In another message, Washburn allegedly wrote, “I feel excited every time I see news of the killing of an occupation soldier.”
An analysis of financial records determined that Washburn made approximately 80 cryptocurrency transfers totaling about $30,116, to an account used by the individual, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo for the Western District of New York said Washburn was stopped before her alleged efforts could continue.
“Despite her alleged attempts, including cryptic communications with a fighter involved in violent attacks in an area thousands of miles away, Catherine Washburn was stopped and so too were her efforts to support violent extremism,” DiGiacomo said.
Acting Assistant Director Coult Markovsky of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division said the FBI remains focused on cutting off funding to terrorist groups.
“The FBI is committed to cutting off funding to terrorist groups and will continue to work side-by-side with our Justice Department partners to make sure anyone who engages in terrorism or provides assistance to such organizations is held fully accountable in our justice system,” Markovsky said.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Islamic Jihad Hold Gaza Rally

Feds Arrest American For Trying To Fund Jihadists

New York

Terrorism

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is ramping up its crackdown on birth tourism in the United States.
Colin McDonald, who leads the newly formed Fraud Division at the Department of Justice, informed employees on Tuesday that the DOJ will target those who &#8220;exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law,&#8221; according to a memorandum on &#8220;fraudulent birth tourism schemes&#8221; obtained by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I am directing all United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division to work with the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of birth tourism schemes,&#8221; McDonald ordered.
The memo comes on the heels of a momentous Supreme Court decision that protects the practice of “birth tourism,” often used by wealthy Chinese nationals to travel to the United States to give birth to their children.
The DOJ memo lays out how the American citizenship system is exploited every year by &#8220;thousands of foreigners&#8221; who come to the United States under &#8220;false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child.&#8221;
McDonald cites an example from 2024, in which Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong, a husband and wife, were sentenced to 41 months in prison for operating a birth tourism scheme using a business called &#8220;USA Happy Baby Inc.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1126285" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-plans-assault-on-birth-tourism-after-letdown-at-scotus/us-politics-health-fraud-blanche" rel="attachment wp-att-1126285"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1126285" class="wp-image-1126285 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
That business charged Chinese clients &#8220;tens of thousands of dollars&#8221; for helping women give birth in the United States.
&#8220;Liu and Dong assisted customers with obtaining fraudulent visas to enter the United States, and provided customs entry guidance, housing, and transportation in the United States,&#8221; McDonald explained. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Liu and Dong coached their customers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
Another 2022 scheme involved Ibrahim Aksakal, who was sentenced to 27 months in prison for &#8220;conspiring to commit health care and wire fraud&#8221; related to a birth tourism scheme that he operated in New York. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,039,723.63, and forfeiture in the amount of $397,500.
&#8220;Aksakal and his co-conspirators advertised a birth tourism scheme on two Turkish-language social media pages,&#8221; the memo states. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Aksakal and his co-conspirators instructed the women to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
A third scheme, this one in 2020, involved a fugitive named Chao &#8220;Edwin&#8221; Chen who was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a &#8220;large-scale birth tourism scheme.&#8221;
This business went under the name &#8220;You Win USA&#8221; and advertised that it had a 100-person team in China and the United States and had served more than 500 Chinese birth-tourism customers, the memo stated.
&#8220;Chen, who helped coach his customers to misrepresent the true 
intentions of their visits to United States at ports of entry, charged each customer between $40,000 to $80,000,&#8221; McDonald&#8217;s memo explained. &#8220;Chen received $3 million in international wire transfers from China in just two years.&#8221;
DOJ prosecutes many of these cases as visa fraud under 18 USC § 1546, but McDonald&#8217;s memo encourages prosecutors to consider whether other federal statutes have been violated.
That could include &#8220;Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud,&#8221; &#8220;Money Laundering and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering,&#8221; &#8220;Unlawful Use of Means of Identification,&#8221; &#8220;Aggravated Identity Theft,&#8221; and &#8220;Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud.&#8221;
President Trump called on Congress to take legislative action on Tuesday in light of the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision on birthright citizenship.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
He added in a post later on Tuesday: “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!”

Trump Directs EPA To Clarify Rules On Individual Car Repairs

Trump Plans Assault On Birth Tourism After Letdown At SCOTUS

birth tourism

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The Department of Justice has confirmed to The Daily Wire that it has launched a grand jury investigation into leftist megadonor Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of promoting Chinese Communist Party interests.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas on behalf of an investigation led by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-launches-grand-jury-probe-marxist-mogul-neville-roy-singhams-funding-leftist-groups">reported</a> on Monday. The subpoenas reportedly seek financial records tied to Singham and his network. Singham recently funneled $285 million from his accounts in China to Left-wing organizations in the United States through the Goldman Sachs&#8217; philanthropic entity, the GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management.
Prosecutors are reportedly examining whether Singham engaged in wire fraud, money laundering, or any other financial crimes, or acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of China. The investigation is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on fraud in nonprofits, political organizations, and government-backed entities. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also met with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to discuss Singham and the recent investigation, according to the outlet. Bessent allegedly warned the bank that they could also be investigated for their past connections with the CCP and their account with Singham.
Singham is connected to organizations such as the People’s Forum, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Code Pink. His wife, Jodie Evans, is a leftist activist who co-founded the radical anti-war organization Code Pink. Lawmakers have also alleged that Singham was affiliated with the Maku Group, a CCP-backed propaganda organization.
Singham has been a Communist ever since his youth, when he took membership in the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, a Mao-influenced group based in Detroit, Michigan, the New Lines Magazine <a href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-big-business-of-uyghur-genocide-denial/">reported</a>.
Singham used America’s capitalist system to gain his wealth. After college at Howard University, Singham founded Thoughtworks, a consulting and software firm, which he sold to a private equity firm in 2017 for $785 million.
In a viral clip <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391402983112">posted</a> by Fox News Digital, Singham argued to Chinese officials that America and Britain were not the heroes in World War II.
“This fascist lie that the West says that there is a battle between fascism, democracy and communism. They make a fake argument that there are three systems,” Singham stated. “In fact, fascism is actually a face of capitalism and imperialism, as is colonialism. These are three faces of a system that quite now is getting very, very dangerous for us.”
Singham also argued that the Soviet Union and China were the real heroes of WWII.
OpenSecrets has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=neville+singham&amp;type=donors">tracked</a> $70,000 of direct funding from Singham, including $18,000 to Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, $8,400 to then-Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and $7,500 to the Green Party, along with funding to the campaigns of former President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Neville Roy Singham

American Socialists’ Billionaire Sugar Daddy Is Under DOJ Investigation

Anna Paulina Luna

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WASHINGTON — Authorities have arrested yet another man for his involvement in the planned attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.
Twenty-year-old Alexander Iniguez Mercado of Chicago is charged with obstruction of justice related to his involvement in planning the attack. He served as the administrator of Signal chats where individuals communicated about planning the June 14 UFC attack, according to an indictment returned Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Authorities arrested him on Thursday and he is scheduled to appear in court on Friday at 3 p.m., according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chicago-man-arrested-connection-planned-violent-attack-ultimate-fighting-championship-event">Justice Department</a>.
Mercado is one of eight individuals who have been charged in connection to the attack, which authorities discovered ahead of time and put a stop to. His charge of obstruction of justice is punishable with up to 20 years in prison.
The attempted attackers planned to use explosive drones to cause panic at the UFC event and drive attendees out of specific entrances where snipers would then open fire. Authorities discovered the plot after 19-year-old Tycen Proper&#8217;s mother called about her son&#8217;s recent firearms purchases and his communications with concerning individuals online.
Proper was planning the attack with a group of nearly two dozen others, according to a criminal complaint, many of whom have not yet been arrested. His parents told law enforcement that their son had recently quit his job and appeared to have become radicalized online.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1124081" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-man-indicted-for-planning-ufc-250-drone-attack/ufc-freedom-250-topuria-v-gaethje-4" rel="attachment wp-att-1124081"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1124081" class="wp-image-1124081 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2281609535-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2281609535-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2281609535-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2281609535-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2281609535.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)</div>
One day before the UFC event, according to the DOJ, a special agent from the FBI spoke with Mercado on the telephone and said he was calling to &#8220;discuss online threats regarding the UFC event,&#8221; asking whether Mercado was planning to go to D.C. to help with the attack.
Mercado denied that he was planning to go to D.C. and said he wouldn&#8217;t meet with the agent, then uninstalled the Signal app on his phone, deleting the data that would include his Signal messages, according to the indictment.
“Obstructing justice in a law enforcement investigation into a planned violent domestic attack is a profoundly serious offense,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said on Friday.
“The investigation in this case involved serious threats to public safety, including the safety of President Donald J. Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States of America, other members of government, as well as the many attendees and athletes who attended the event at the White House,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Any obstructive conduct to interfere with this investigation undermines the integrity of the justice system as well as the rule of law.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-masterminded-ufc-white-house-drone-attack-plot-dhs-says">reported last week</a> that the mastermind of the attack, Abraham Alvarez, who was “responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack,” was an illegal immigrant who had overstayed his visa after being brought into the United States as a child.
“This illegal alien from Mexico should never have been allowed in our country,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said earlier this month. “He was the ringleader of a failed terror attack targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.

President Trump Hosts UFC Freedom 250 Fight Topuria v Gaethje At The White House

Another Man Indicted For Planning UFC 250 Drone Attack

Chicago

UFC Freedom 250

It can be difficult to keep track of all the news — especially when every day seems to bring new horrors beyond all human comprehension — but it was just two months ago that one of the largest psy-ops in modern American political history was exposed. 
In a federal indictment, the Trump administration presented evidence showing that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent and very powerful left-wing activist group, was secretly giving millions of dollars to people who were closely associated with — and working on behalf of — &#8220;white supremacists&#8221; and &#8220;Nazis.&#8221; 
In public, the SPLC claimed that white supremacy was the greatest threat facing the country, and they raised a lot of money from leftists in order to defeat racism. They also pressured federal agencies and social media platforms — successfully, in many cases — to harass and censor anyone they deemed racist.
But in private, as alleged in this indictment, the SPLC was funneling huge amounts of money to people associated with the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party of America. 
In other words, because the demand for white supremacy greatly exceeds the supply in this country, the SPLC helped create some more supply.
By far, SPLC&#8217;s most successful psy-op was the so-called &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally in Charlottesville, which took place in August 2017. This event immediately became a part of left-wing mythology. It was their ace-in-the-hole against Donald Trump — proof positive that he was a white supremacist. The rally was supposedly the reason Joe Biden ran for president. Kamala Harris repeatedly mentioned it. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/the-matt-walsh-show-1799"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-995295 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Walsh-Banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Every claim that the Left made about this event was a lie. First, they claimed that everyone in attendance was a white supremacist. But that wasn&#8217;t remotely true. Most of the attendees were protesting the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, which was a righteous cause. 
Robert E. Lee is a great man of history and an American icon. And as Trump pointed out, the Left was never going to stop with his statue. They were on a mission to destroy the statues of all American heroes, which is exactly what they did. 
Then the Left claimed that Donald Trump called neo-Nazis &#8220;very fine people,&#8221; when he explicitly said the opposite. Additionally, the Left pushed the narrative that a white supremacist had deliberately run over a crowd of protesters — even though evidence showed that his vehicle was surrounded by a mob and attacked. He pressed the accelerator to escape the violence. 
The driver of the vehicle had entered his home address on his GPS. He was distraught to learn that people had died. Responding officers believed the incident was an accident — none of which mattered to the media, which never reported any of this.
But the SPLC&#8217;s role in the rally, according to the DOJ&#8217;s indictment, wasn&#8217;t understood until recently. As it happens, one of the organizers of the &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally was on the SPLC&#8217;s payroll. This informant helped plan the &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally and &#8220;attended the event at the direction of the SPLC.&#8221; He also &#8220;made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.” 
From 2015 to 2023, the SPLC paid this individual more than a quarter-million dollars. Yes, the worst Neo-Nazi rally in memory — really, the only Neo nazi rally in memory — the one that dominated the news cycle for weeks, and became a permanent part of American political discourse — was organized by someone on the Left&#8217;s payroll. 
For the SPLC, and the Democrat Party more generally, the return on investment was immediate and enormous. The SPLC&#8217;s revenue ballooned from $51 million to $133 million, thanks to massive donations from Apple, JPMorgan Chase, and other major corporations. Spotify and Facebook, along with other social media platforms, began crackdowns on so-called &#8220;hate speech.&#8221; 
Of course, Donald Trump was forever branded as the new Hitler — someone who had publicly endorsed violent tiki-torch mobs, even though he did no such thing. Only now — many years later — are federal prosecutors alleging that the SPLC was involved in the operation. 
In the process, according to the DOJ, the SPLC defrauded its donors. The donors were told their money was going to &#8220;fight white supremacy,&#8221; but in reality, their money was going toward Nazi fundraising and false flag operations.
All this to say, it would be difficult to imagine that the year could get any worse for the SPLC. 
The SPLC&#8217;s entire racket requires that people can pretend to take them seriously, as some kind of impartial arbiter of the truth, when they decree that someone is &#8220;racist&#8221; and &#8220;dangerous.&#8221; 
For example, when then-President Joe Biden&#8217;s FBI began investigating &#8220;radical traditional Catholics,&#8221; the FBI cited the SPLC. The FBI knew that the SPLC was lying, but that didn&#8217;t matter. All that mattered was that, in the FBI&#8217;s estimation, the SPLC was &#8220;trustworthy enough&#8221; to cite in a memo, as a pretext to crack down on Catholics. 
Along the same lines, if you ended up on the SPLC&#8217;s &#8220;hate list,&#8221; then many corporations and advertisers would avoid you. You&#8217;d get blackballed. And that&#8217;s not even getting into the fact that, once you were tagged by the SPLC, an army of angry left-wing nutcases would also descend on you. 
I was on their list, along with Turning Point USA. So was the Family Research Council — which was shot up by a gunman who was inspired by the SPLC&#8217;s hate list. He explicitly told the police that the SPLC&#8217;s hate list inspired his attack.
Just a few years later, the SPLC is no longer &#8220;trustworthy enough&#8221; for any serious person to even pretend to take seriously. Their cover has been blown. If the FBI (or a major corporation) wants to harass you on the basis of some false accusation of racism, the SPLC isn&#8217;t helpful anymore. So really, they have no reason to exist.
But as if that&#8217;s not bad enough, somehow, the case against the SPLC has become even more devastating and utterly humiliating. The DOJ filed what&#8217;s called a &#8220;superseding indictment&#8221; in the case, which is basically an indictment that revises the original. 
In this new indictment, the DOJ alleges that a high-level SPLC official — the director of their &#8220;intelligence project&#8221; — was sleeping with an informant in a white supremacist group called the &#8220;National Alliance.&#8221; The group was founded by William Luther Pierce, who wrote &#8220;The Turner Diaries,&#8221; which inspired the Oklahoma City bombings. 
On top of that, according to the indictment, the SPLC was funneling more than a million dollars to this particular &#8220;white supremacist,&#8221; while their &#8220;intelligence director&#8221; was sleeping with him.
Here&#8217;s an apparent picture of the intelligence director:
<div id="attachment_1119055" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1119055" class="wp-image-1119055" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-904354508-300x219.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="365" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-904354508-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-904354508-790x576.jpg 790w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-904354508-768x560.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-904354508.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images</div>
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/16/us-news/splc-employee-who-paid-neo-nazi-lover-1-2-million-unmasked/">reports</a> that the SPLC official in question is &#8220;believed to be Heidi Beirich, a 58-year-old fascism expert who was the director of intelligence at [the SPLC] between 2012 and 2019.&#8221; 
Think about how on-the-nose this is. The SPLC was going around saying &#8220;f*ck fascists,&#8221; and what do you know? They were f*cking fascists. And funding them too. 
Someone needs to turn this story into a romantic comedy screenplay immediately. And if they won&#8217;t, I&#8217;ll do it myself. I&#8217;ve already started pre-production in my mind, and the only snag I can identify — although admittedly it&#8217;s a big one — is that Philip Seymour Hoffman isn&#8217;t alive to play the woman.
<div id="attachment_1119007" style="width: 486px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1119007" class="wp-image-1119007 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-56318159-476x576.jpg" alt="" width="476" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-56318159-476x576.jpg 476w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-56318159-248x300.jpg 248w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-56318159-768x928.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-56318159.jpg 847w" sizes=" (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px" />Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images</div>
Take a look and tell me the resemblance isn&#8217;t uncanny. I&#8217;m generally opposed to the use of holograms in movies, but in this case, it may be worth it. And it&#8217;s not just because she looks exactly like Philip Seymour Hoffman. The more you read the DOJ&#8217;s allegations, which include a Watergate-style break-in, the more you&#8217;ll agree with me that he&#8217;s the perfect casting choice here. Even if he&#8217;s dead.
From the <a href="https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/USAvSouthernPovertyLawCenterIncDocketNo226cr00139MDAlaApr212026Co/10?doc_id=XB0H5P6F3M86N8OADFM88PGUJP">new indictment</a>: 
<blockquote>At the direction of the SPLC, [the informant] infiltrated the neo-Nazi organization, the National Alliance. While receiving donors&#8217; money [from the SPLC], the informant was also fundraising for the National Alliance. The money the informant raised helped the National Alliance carry out its extremist activities. </blockquote>
So, in other words, the SPLC was paying a guy to raise money for a Nazi group. They&#8217;re so opposed to Nazis that they install secret operatives inside Nazi organizations in order to help the Nazis raise money. Oh, and they sleep with the Nazis too. 
So you&#8217;re probably asking yourself: What exactly makes this guy an &#8220;informant&#8221;? Aren&#8217;t they just paying a Nazi to be a Nazi? As it turns out, indeed, this informant did perform some undercover work — which appears to be very illegal:
<blockquote>In 2014, the informant broke into the headquarters of an extremist organization and stole approximately 25 boxes of documents. The informant transported these documents across state lines from West Virginia to North Carolina. The informant broke into the headquarters again and returned the originals [after copies were made]. The SPLC official used the copies, knowing they were stolen, as the basis for a story published on &#8216;Hatewatch.'&#8221; The SPLC used this story to solicit more donations. The SPLC official paid approximately $6,000 in donors&#8217; money to a separate individual to falsely take responsibility for the burglary.</blockquote>
So the woman allegedly used donor money to pay someone else to take the fall for her boyfriend. The Hatewatch article that the SPLC wrote, allegedly based on stolen documents, is called &#8220;Chaos at the Compound.&#8221; It&#8217;s still online. According to <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/chaos-compound/">the article</a>:
<blockquote>Randolph Dilloway, 49, an accountant with almost a decade of experience, was secretly hired by Alliance Chairman Will Williams in December to conduct a forensic audit of the organization’s bank statements, member dues documents and federal income tax filings. &#8230; Terrified of his former employer, Dilloway contacted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on May 6. Active in the neo-Nazi, white supremacist scene for more than a decade, Dilloway moved to the NA headquarters compound last winter and was given full, unsupervised access to offices holding dozens of boxes of poorly-filed financial documents and data disks associated with the group’s various business entities going back to 1985. &#8230; Among the thousands of pages of documents, database files, transaction records and digital media provided by Dilloway to the SPLC, the disturbing email exchanges he had with Kalamaros and Williams outlining possible financial improprieties earlier this year seem to suggest the Alliance attorney was advising them to ignore evidence of tax fraud and embezzlement to avoid being audited by the IRS.</blockquote>
So you can see what&#8217;s going on here. The SPLC is doing what it usually does — it&#8217;s providing a pretext for federal agencies to shut down groups they don&#8217;t approve of. The FBI presumably couldn&#8217;t get a warrant to look into the financial records of this particular white supremacist group. So the SPLC steps up to the plate. They break into the offices, steal the documents, and then publicize them. And then, once that happens, the FBI (and the IRS) have probable cause to get their search warrant and to launch their investigations.
The SPLC is just one propaganda outfit among many on the Left, all of which have the exact same goal. When one falls, the others pick up the slack. When their narrative is exposed as fraudulent, they just keep pushing it, as if nothing happened. And the media will go along with it, every single time, from the national networks to the local news stations. 
We are up against people who are so fixated on the elimination of their political enemies that they&#8217;ve lost all sense of self-awareness and shame, if they had any to begin with. 
And while they think that&#8217;s a strength — and historically, it has been a strength — the truth is, it&#8217;s now become a massive liability. 
Once you start ignoring Nazi tattoos on your Senate candidates, once your &#8220;anti-hate group&#8221; is having sex with Nazis, and once your mayor is pretending to weep about a gay Asian communist lighting a cross on fire — the shark has officially been jumped. 
People can&#8217;t possibly have patience for this kind of overt, shameless lying anymore. 
And with just a few months until some very important elections in this country, in a rare bit of good news for conservatives, that&#8217;s a very good place for us to be.

2016 Winter TCA Tour – Day 3

The SPLC Hits An All New Low With Cringe Sex Scandal

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Radical Left

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

White Supremacy

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The Department of Justice has launched multiple investigations related to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, including a probe dating back to the Biden administration, The Daily Wire has learned.
The revelation comes just hours after Newsom accused President Donald Trump of directing the DOJ to investigate him and his wife.
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In a nearly <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2066585778982166808?s=20">five-minute video statement</a>, Newsom said federal agents have knocked on the doors of his family, friends, and former employees.<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0px none currentcolor;" src="https://player.mux.com/KgatyxzBPTeIgISlbafoRv02VdJU6U01Hy?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=df9e3254-c286-4ef6-b2b5-d71267c01df7&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-15%20Newsom%20Says%20he's%20being%20investigated%20by%20the%20DOJ%20&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F9ddb556e-7a5e-4ca2-b5c9-55e5b945dd25.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
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Credit: Gavin Newsom via X
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&#8220;Today, my wife &amp; I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us. They have not found a crime &#8211; they are simply trying to find one,&#8221; Newsom wrote on X.
“They&#8217;re demanding records, they&#8217;re abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents. Donald Trump isn&#8217;t just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He&#8217;s coming after me because I&#8217;m considering running for president,” the California Democrat said. 
A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Wire that multiple DOJ investigations related to Newsom are underway, though none are directly targeting the California governor himself. One investigation, which began in 2025, concerns his wife and her taxes. A separate DOJ investigation into Newsom’s chief of staff was launched during President Joe Biden’s administration and remains open and evolving, according to the source. Those investigations originated in Sacramento and involved whistleblowers and sources in the state, rather than coming from the main DOJ. 
In May, Newsom announced plans to make California the first state to provide “free diapers” to newborns leaving the hospital — funneling the money for the program through a nonprofit headed by a friend of California’s self-described “First Partner,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-controversial-connection-between-newsoms-free-diapers-plan-and-his-wife">The Daily Wire previously reported</a>.
Baby2Baby co-CEO Norah Weinstein sits on the board of Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s group “California Partners Project” — and it’s Baby2Baby that will take point on the $20 million diaper project, which is supposed to provide every family leaving the hospital with a newborn with 400 diapers.
In his video, however, Newsom did not specify what the Department of Justice was looking into or investigating.
“After calling for my arrest last year, Donald Trump directed his Department of Justice to investigate me, and just in the last week, I&#8217;ve learned that his campaign has reached my own home to get me,” he said. “He&#8217;s coming after my wife, Jen, a public servant, a woman who&#8217;s dedicated her life to supporting women and girls.” 
Newsom then launched into a lengthy tirade, accusing Trump of selling access to the White House and calling him the “most corrupt president in American history.”
“Donald Trump picked the wrong target. We have nothing to hide. His political operatives can take every record and read every page, but they&#8217;ll be looking in the wrong place,” Newsom said. “You can subpoena my records, you can investigate me, you can harass me, put my name on every and any enemies list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”
The Daily Wire reached out to the DOJ for more information.
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<div>Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.</div>
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California Governor Gavin Newsom Interview On The Circuit

Newsom Says Trump Is Coming After Him. One Problem: Biden Started It.

California

Gavin Newsom

Jennifer Newsom

News

The Department of Justice has approved Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing one of the biggest regulatory obstacles to a deal that would reshape the entertainment industry.
According to reports from <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/12/paramount-acquisition-warner-bros-approved-00960300?_sp_pass_consent=true">Politico</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/12/paramount-wbd-merger-approval-doj.html">CNBC</a>, the DOJ&#8217;s Antitrust Division concluded the transaction does not pose a threat to competition and declined to challenge the merger.
The decision paves the way for Paramount to merge with the media giant behind CNN, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, TBS, TNT, and other major entertainment brands, creating one of the world&#8217;s largest media companies.
The approval is expected to be formally announced on Friday.
Federal regulators reportedly approved the deal without requiring Paramount to divest any assets or accept behavioral remedies, conditions that often accompany major media mergers.
The merger has been among the most closely watched antitrust reviews of President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term because of its size and its potential impact on the media landscape.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, reportedly met personally with DOJ officials multiple times during the review process. According to Politico, Ellison spent roughly two hours meeting with Antitrust Division officials and career attorneys several weeks ago to discuss the transaction and its competitive effects.
Throughout the review, Paramount argued that the merger would strengthen competition by creating a larger media company capable of competing against streaming giants and technology firms that increasingly dominate the entertainment business.
Earlier this year, Netflix briefly pursued its own acquisition proposal for Warner Bros. Discovery before dropping out of the bidding process. According to CNBC, Paramount&#8217;s offer values Warner Bros. Discovery at approximately $31 per share.
Despite the federal approval, the deal still faces additional scrutiny.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, continues to investigate the transaction and could attempt to challenge the merger in court. Attorneys general from several states, including California and New York, monitored portions of the federal review process.
&#8220;The Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation,&#8221; a spokesperson for Bonta&#8217;s office told Politico.
The merger must also receive approval from European regulators before it can be finalized. The European Union has opened its own review and set a July deadline for its initial assessment.
On Wednesday, Paramount announced that Australia&#8217;s competition regulator had <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/06/paramount-wbd-mergerl-clears-australia-1236952390/">approved the transaction</a>.
Critics of the merger have warned that it could lead to another round of consolidation-related layoffs across Hollywood. Industry unions and some entertainment advocates have argued that the combined company would likely pursue significant cost-cutting measures.
For Paramount and the Ellisons, the DOJ&#8217;s decision represents a major victory after months of regulatory scrutiny. The company has said it expects the transaction to close by September if all remaining approvals are secured.

In this photo illustration, the Paramount logo is seen

Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Clears Major Hurdle

Anti-trust

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Economy

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Hollywood

Paramount

Warner Bros

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Three United States citizens accused of helping fund ISIS attacks on American servicemembers were arrested on Friday morning by federal authorities. 
According to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-arrested-kansas-and-california-charged-plot-support-isis">Department of Justice</a>, FBI agents arrested 21-year-old Bisaam Ghafoor of Leawood, Kansas, 21-year-old Elias Shamsaldeen of Porterville, California, and 25-year-old Bereen Dzayee of Lakeside, California.
The three men conspired from at least February 2025 through June 2026 to support the designated terror group, according to a criminal complaint filed in the District of Kansas.
The men communicated through Discord chats, voice calls, and other messaging platforms, where they pledged allegiance to ISIS and promoted violence on the group&#8217;s behalf, according to the Department of Justice. 
According to the complaint, the men repeatedly spoke about violence against Americans and U.S. military personnel. 
Prosecutors say Ghafoor remarked that it would be “sick” to have his name written on a drone used in an attack on Americans, while Dzayee suggested drone strikes should target U.S. Special Forces. Shamsaldeen expressed a desire to stab a U.S. servicemember, and Ghafoor said he had long wanted to behead a female soldier before adding, “I wish I could kill 300,000,000 Americans.”
Federal authorities accuse the three men of collectively providing over $2,000 to a person they understood to be a member of ISIS and trying to develop a cryptocurrency scheme to buy RPGs and drones to enable the designated terror organization to attack U.S. servicemembers. 
According to prosecutors, Ghafoor’s name was inscribed on a rocket-propelled grenade that was purportedly intended for use in an overseas attack targeting U.S. servicemembers. Investigators also say that Shamsaldeen helped finance the purchase of drones that were intended to be used in attacks against American troops deployed abroad.
The defendants also expressed a desire to travel outside the United States to fight and die on behalf of ISIS, according to authorities.
The three men were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
“This administration has put terrorists, cartels, and gangs on notice,” <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-arrested-kansas-and-california-charged-plot-support-isis">said</a> Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Today’s arrest of three individuals who allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIS makes clear our commitment to taking down terrorist networks — anywhere. Thanks to the vigilance of the FBI, their alleged scheme was dismantled and further acts of violence against U.S. service members were prevented.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the suspects “swore allegiance to ISIS, plotted multiple attacks, and even targeted U.S. service members.”
“The success of this op shows once again this FBI&#8217;s continued record of stopping terrorist attacks before they happen,” Patel said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the defendants wished to betray their country.
“According to the complaint, these defendants conspired to support ISIS, a ruthless terrorist organization, with the intent, among other things, to fund plans to kill American servicemembers abroad,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Thanks to the work of the FBI, their plans to betray their country in the gravest way lies in ruin. Instead, these defendants will face justice in our courts.”
The investigation was conducted by FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Kansas City, San Diego, and Sacramento, with assistance from FBI field offices in Richmond and Newark.

ISIS

3 Americans Arrested In ISIS Case That Authorities Say Was A Betrayal Of America

Department of Justice

kash patel

WASHINGTON—Todd Blanche’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was a dream come true for conservatives furious over the prosecution of Americans under President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump repeatedly professed himself delighted with the fund, Vice President JD Vance defended it from the briefing room podium, and, for a moment, it seemed that victims of the Biden administration&#8217;s lawfare might get compensated. 
Only a few weeks later, the Anti-Weaponization Fund has been effectively squashed. Clinton-appointed Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order on May 29 blocking the Justice Department from taking further action on the fund. Over the weekend, Justice Department officials determined that they had to comply with the court order. And by Tuesday, after tense meetings with Senate Republicans, Acting Attorney General Blanche testified: “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.” 
On Wednesday, the president weighed in.
&#8220;Well, Congress didn&#8217;t want it,” President Trump told The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese from the Oval Office on Wednesday. “You have to talk to Congress. The Republican senators, some of them got very weak knees. They didn&#8217;t have the stomach for the fight.&#8221;
It is a rare admission of defeat from Trump and his administration, which doesn&#8217;t often acknowledge an end to its efforts with such finality.
The DOJ had announced the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund on May 18. Officials said the program was intended for anyone who believed they had been unfairly targeted by any administration, whether January 6 defendants, pro-life protesters, or even Hunter Biden. 
Democrats were quick to oppose it, claiming that the Trump administration was planning to reward “criminals,” such as the January 6 defendants who had attacked police officers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led the charge, calling on his colleagues to join him in an effort to shut down the &#8220;MAGA slush fund.&#8221;  
&#8220;If Republicans return to reconciliation, we will be ready with amendments to shut the fund down,&#8221; he vowed. &#8220;If they try to bury the issue, we will force them to the Senate floor. If they try to sneak behind appropriations, we will fight them there, too. There will be no escape hatch.&#8221;
During a May 19 press briefing with Vance, White House reporters repeatedly asked the vice president to confirm or deny specific hypotheticals about January 6 defendants receiving compensation from the fund. Vance swatted away their concerns, saying, “we’re not trying to give money to anybody who attacked a police officer.”
“We’re trying to compensate people where the book was thrown at them, they were mistreated by the legal system,” he explained. 
&#8220;Look,” he added, “if Hunter Biden wants to apply for this fund because he thinks he was targeted by the Department of Justice for political reasons, he has every right to apply, just like any other American.&#8221;
Things came to a head two days later when around 45 Republican senators met with Blanche on Capitol Hill. Many of these senators had serious concerns about who exactly would be applying for the fund and what guardrails would be in place, a Senate GOP aide explained to The Daily Wire. Many of them left the meeting with more questions than answers. 
It wasn’t just the typical Republican holdouts who had concerns. 
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) also expressed frustration at the timing of the fund, which the DOJ announced right as senators were about to vote on a reconciliation bill to fund border security.
“A colleague described the timing of the announcement as galactically stupid,” he told The Daily Wire on Wednesday evening. “But we’re talking about the timing, not the fund. I fully support using the Judgement Fund to compensate citizens abused by the government, including those harmed by Biden’s weaponization of DOJ.”
And Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), usually a staunch supporter of the president’s agenda, had argued leading up to the meeting that she did not want anyone who had attacked police on January 6 to be compensated. Britt told The Daily Wire that &#8220;the weaponization of our federal government to target Americans for their political beliefs was real and dangerous,&#8221; and that she supports &#8220;the goal of seeking justice for all Americans who have been unlawfully targeted by the government.&#8221;
Republicans less aligned with the president were even more critical. 
“So, the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). 
And Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, still licking his wounds after losing his primary bid to Trump-backed challenger Julia Letlow, mocked the Anti-Weaponization Fund as a “slush fund.”
“People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” Cassidy said in a social media post.
“This is adding to our national debt,” he added. “If there needs to be a settlement, the administration should bring it to Congress to decide.” 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/22/trumps-revenge-ballroom-weaponization-fund">acknowledged to Axios</a> that Trump’s endorsements against Cassidy or Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) were not helping the matter. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what&#8217;s happening in the political atmosphere around us,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t disconnect those things.&#8221;
The senators were very unhappy, and they did not hold back in their meeting with Blanche. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) described the Capitol Hill showdown as “one of the roughest meetings I&#8217;ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.&#8221; The Texas Republican said there was yelling, even screaming. 
&#8220;There were fireworks at an epic level,&#8221; Cruz shared in a late May episode of his podcast, adding that &#8220;Fiery does not begin to cut it” and at least half of the senators “were blasting the attorney general and they were pissed.&#8221;
Determined to block the DOJ fund, Democrats had promised to force votes on amendments that would target the fund as they voted on the reconciliation package — voting that was supposed to begin on Thursday. 
&#8220;We were going to lose those amendment votes because of the 40-plus Republicans in the room, I&#8217;d say half of them were ready to vote with the Democrats on this,&#8221; Cruz explained. &#8220;If the judgment fund had not been announced this week, we would be right now on the Senate floor, we&#8217;d be funding border security.&#8221;
Blanche tried to convince the senators that those who assaulted police officers on January 6 would not benefit from the fund, Cruz shared, and the acting attorney general assured the senators that none of the Trump family would benefit either.
&#8220;Todd Blanche was adamant, and he said not just &#8216;no,&#8217; but &#8216;hell no,'&#8221; Cruz said.
The Senate was about to take up the reconciliation bill that day, May 21. But after the meeting with Blanche, the lawmakers canceled the votes and decided that both the House and the Senate would depart Washington, D.C., and head home for Memorial Day recess. 
“I do find it quite rich that under Arctic Frost the Senate was all too willing to vote for payments because they were wronged, but they don’t allow the American people the same opportunity,” a senior congressional aide close to the matter told The Daily Wire. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Department of Justice disagrees strongly with the decision on the Anti-Weaponization Fund put forth by the United States District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, wherein the Court stated that, under no circumstances, may the Department of Justice proceed with…
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) <a href="https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2061531380735951193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
That Friday, Judge Brinkema issued her temporary restraining order blocking the fund from going into effect. 
And on Monday, after House Speaker Mike Johnson met with the president and told him the fund was &#8220;a difficult prospect right now, given our vote tallies,” the Justice Department announced that it would abide by the court ruling, though it strongly disagreed with the court. Blanche snuffed out even more hope, stating in his congressional testimony that the DOJ would not be &#8220;moving forward with the fund, period.&#8221; 
Blanche doesn&#8217;t seem to have suffered in the president&#8217;s eyes over the matter. Amid rumors on Wednesday evening that Trump was about to officially appoint Blanche as the new head of the Justice Department, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Daily Wire that Trump is &#8220;very pleased with the job [Blanche is] doing so far.&#8221;
And the president himself offered a glimmer of hope for the fund on Wednesday afternoon. 
“A radical left judge ruled against it,” he told reporters. “And we’ll see how that all works out.”

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